Track and hanger for sliding doors



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. SO'ULEN. TRACK AND HANGER FOR SLIDING DOORS. No. 349,536. PatentedSept. 21, 1-886 m is iHi i %M Wow 5M4, m

NITED ST TES;

PATENT- O FICE.

HENRY soutninor MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

.TRACK AND HANGER FOR SLlDl NG DOORS.

SPECIFI CATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,536, datedSeptember 21, 1886.

Application filed March 23, 1886.

To all whom it 11mg concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY SOULEN, a citizen of the United States, ofMilwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of \Visconsin,haveinvented certain new and useful Improve mentsin Tracks and Hangersfor Sliding Doors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the in-, vention, which will enableothers skilled in the art to whichit pertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The objects of my invention are, first, to maintain a perfect jointbetween the doors when they are closed; second, to maintain the edges ofthe doors, when they are open and withdrawn into the pockets in thewall, flushor parallel with the sides'of the door frame or jambs; and,third, to prevent the binding of the doors and facilitate theirmovement.

It consists, essentially, of means for adjusting the track vertically atone or more points, of suspending the track so as to cause it to conformlaterally to the travel of the doors and the hanger-wheels, and ofanti-friction hangers adapted for use with said adjustable track.

In the accompanying drawings, like letters refer to the same parts inthe several figures.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of my improved track,showing a pair of sliding doors, one of which is provided with myimproved hangers, the lath and plastering being 35 removed. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the casting by which my hanger is attached to the door.Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section, on an enlarged scale, on theline 2 2, Fig. 1, of the track and adjusting-wedges employed at one endof said box. Fig. 4is an end elevation of said wedges, and of theadjusting-bolt used therewith. Fig. 5 is a cross-section of one of thehangers, the track, and the parts associated therewith; and Fig. 6 is apartial longitudinal section of the hanger on the line as a, Fig. 5.

It is a well-known'fact that sliding doors and the tracks upon whichthey run, generally, if not always, get out of adjustment, owing to thesettling of the building, the distortion of its walls, and the warpingof the tracks and the parts to which they are attached, as well as ofSerial No. 196,281. (No model.)

the doors and casings themselves. To meet these unavoidable defects andthe difficulties 'to bring their inner edges flush or parallel with thesides of the door frame or jambs when they are opened or withdrawn intothe pockets in the wall or partition. It will be seen, however, thatwhen the track is rigidly secured in place adj ustable hangers cannotremedy all the defects resulting from the warping or deflection of saidtrack. The edges of the doors may be made to meet and form a perfectjoint at the center of the opening; but if the track is out of alignmenttheir inner edges will not be flush or parallel with the jambs when thedoors are withdrawn into the pockets. When the track is thus rigidlysecured'to the wall, any lateral warping or deflection will cause thedoors or hangers to bind, and thus obstruct their movementimperfectionswhich it is obvious the adjustable hangers cannot correct, and which,with the defects previously mentioned, it is the design of myimprovements to effectually remedy.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A is a box composed of top andsides, to the inner faces of which are attached, at their lower edges,parallel and equidistant from each other, the rails a a, which arepreferably made of maple or some similar wood, and, together with saidbox, constitute the track. The top is securely screwed to the sides,which are in turn screwed to pieces which close the ends of the box andprevent said sides from warping or spreading. The box A is suspended atone end and at intermediate points by bolts 1) b, which pass up throughthe top thereof along its longitudinal center and engage at theirthreaded ends with nuts I) b, embedded along the longitudinal center ofthe head-piece B, which is secured in a horizontal position between thestudding N N, as seen in Fig. 5. The bolts 1) b are secured in the topof box A by pins and washers g g, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, whichpermitthem to be turned therein. The holes in the headpiece B, through whichthe bolts 1) pass, are made alittle larger than said bolts, and thestuds N N are cut away adjacent to the sides of said box A, to permit ofa slight lateral movement of the latter, whereby the rails to a adjustthemselves readily to any irregularity in the line of travel of thehanger-wheels, and the doors and hangers are prevented from bindingagainst the parts adjacent thereto.

To the under side of the box A, at the end opposite that supported by abolt, 1), I at-' tach a wedge, F, which rests upon a wedge, G, supportedin turn by a crosspiece, H, fastened to studs N N. The support H isgrooved to receive a tongue formed on wedge G, and thereby retain saidwedge in place. A bolt, 0, provided near the head with a shoulder, 0, bywhich it is secured with its head flush with the face of the plaster,passes at its threaded end into the end of the wedge G, and engages witha nut embedded therein, as shown in Fig. 3. The head and shoulder c ofsaid bolt 0 are inclosed and bear in a sleeve, I, which is formed, intwo sections, as shown by dotted lines, Fig. 4, to permit the insertionof shoulder c, and attached to a board, L, fastened to the studdingunderneath the lath, as shown in Fig. 3.

Iprefer, in connection with my hanger, to suspend the track at threepoints above the door-opening by bolts 1) b, one located at thecenter'and one at or near each side, as seen in Fig. 1, so as to beaccessible for the purpose of adjustment through the narrow openingformed in the frame or head jamb to receive the upper ends of the doors,and between the rails a a. To render the track slightly flexiblevertically, the box A is cut transversely at s 8 through the top andsides down to the top of rails a a, near the bolts 6 b at the sides ofthe door-opening, Fig. 1. To prevent the distortion or warping of thebox where the cuts 8 s are made, I secure in the end of each section ofthe top made by said cuts dowelpins i i, which project into the end ofthe adjacent section. The adjustment of the track required at the centerof the doorway is so slight that it is not necessary to cut the box atthat point.

When adjustable hangers are used, the bolt 1) at the center of thedoorway may be dis pensed with, since the doors may be adjusted by meansof said hangers to form a perfect joint between their edges at thatpoint.

With my adjustable track adjustable hang-- ers may be dispensed with,andthe non-adjustable hangers D D employed to better advantage, not onlybecause they are cheaper, but also because they run smoother, and areless liable to rattle.

The hanger-frames P are preferably made U-shaped, and are provided attheir bases with wedge-shaped dovetail tenons, which are inserted intoand engage with similar grooves formed in base-plates 06, attached tothe doors, as seen in Figs. 5 and 6. The upright limbs 'of saidhanger-frames I are mortised to receive the ends of the steel bars9a,.which are notched on their lower edges and secured in place byset-screws 0 0, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

The hanger frames and bars a may be made entirely of iron and easttogether in a single piece, although I prefer the construction firstdescribed, as being the better and more economical way of forming thebearings traversed by the axles of the hanger-wheels T T, which aresecured,in the usual manner,in pairs upon the short axles Z Z, as shownin Fig. 5.

To reduce the frictionof the wheels T upon the rails a a, I form therims of said wheels without flanges, and provide each hanger with awooden friction -ball, (I, mounted between the rails a a, upon avertical pin rising from the center ofthe frame P, so as to bear oneither side against said rails a a, and thereby to retain the hanger andits wheels TTin their proper positions relative to the track and preventthe doors from binding against the jambs or stops.

When the track is placedin position, it is permanently adjusted at oneend (that opposite the wedges) and set in as perfect alignment aspracticable. After the doors are hung and the walls finished the trackcan be readily adjusted, whenever it becomes necessary, by turning theadjustingbolts b b and c in or out, as required, with an. ordinaryscrewdriver. In practice the alignment of the track is accomplished byfirst adjusting the bolt 12 at the side of the door adjacent to thefixed end of said track, so as to bring the exposed edge of the door onthat side flush with the jamb when the door is in the pocket. Thebolts 1) I) at the opposite side and center are then adjusted to bringthe approaching edges of the doors together at the center, so as to forma perfect joint, the center bolt 1) correcting any vertical deflectionof the track between the bolts 6 b at the sides of the dooropening.Finally, the screw 0 is turned in or out, as required, to bring theinner edge of the adjacent door, when it is opened, flush with the jambon that side.

The details of my improvements may be variously modified withoutdeparture from the spirit of my invention. With very slight change theyare equally applicable to single sliding doors. The wedges F and G maybe turned at right angles to the position in which they are shown in thedrawings, and the screw 0 made to project through the door frame orjamb; or the wedges may be dispensed with altogether and a bolt, likethose shown at b b, used in their place, with some device connectedtherewithsuch as a worm and pinion-for adjusting it from theoutside.

Collars like that shown in connection with bolt 0 may be used with theseveral bolts 1) 1), instead of the pins and washers g g.

I claim- 1. The combination, with a sliding door and hanger, of thetrack adj ustably suspended from above, and adjusting bolts 7)b,'aceessible IIO through the opening traversed by said hanger and theupper edge'of said door, substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

2. The combination, with a sliding door and hanger, of the box A, openat the bottom and adjustably suspended at the top, rails a a, at-

. tached to the inside of said box, and adjusting-bolts b b, accessiblethrough the opening traversed by said hanger and the upper edge of saiddoor, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with a sliding door and its hangers, of the tracksupported at inter: vals by adjusting-bolts IN), and at one end by adjlisting-wedge G, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, with a sliding door and its hangers, of the tracksupported at one end by wedges F and G, and adj listing-screw 0,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination, with a sliding door and hanger, of the box A, openat the bottom and having transverse cut 8 through the top and sides,rails a a, secured to the inside of said box, head-piece B, providedwith nuts I) I), and adjusting-bolts I) b, by which said box issuspended from said head-piece, and which are accessible through theopening traversed 6. Ihe combination, with a sliding door and hanger, ofthe track centrally suspended from above and movable laterally,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination, with asliding door and hanger, of the box A, open atthe bottom, centrally suspended from above, and capable oflateralmovement, rails a a, secured to the inside of said box, andadjusting-bolts b b, by which said box is suspended, substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

8. The combination, with a sliding door, of the vertically-adj ustabletrack, hanger D, composed of the wheels or sheaves T T, and frame P,provided with the bearing-bar a, and a wedge-shaped dovetail tenon, andthe attachn1ent-plate 6, having a similarly-shaped groove to receivesaid tenon, whereby said hanger is hung upon said track and rigidlysecured to said door, substantially as and for the pun poses set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

HENRY SOULEN.

Witnesses:

A. WARREN Goss, CHAS. L. Goss.

